Ghaffari was a founding partner of FrontPoint Partners. He left FrontPoint in 2006 when it was acquired by Morgan Stanley.

Bessemer Trust named Diana Gibson senior client account manager and senior vice president of its Denver office. Prior to joining Bessemer, Gibson was a portfolio manager at Raynemark Investments in Boulder

Julie Prince joined JP Morgan’s Private Wealth Management Group as a senior private banker in its New York office. Prince returns to JP Morgan from Krusen Capital Management, where she served as director of marketing.

JP Morgan Asset Management hired Michael Falcon as managing director and head of retirement in the US and Canada.

Prior to his new role, he managed a financial media and consulting firm founded by NBC's Today financial editor Jean Chatzky. From 2000 to 2008, he served as senior executive in Merrill Lynch's wealth management unit, where he was responsible for the retirement division.

UBS Wealth Management Americas hired a duo of financial advisors from Morgan Stanley Smith Barney in Houston. Blake Pratz and Jo Simmons report to Todd Lavergne, complex director. The team manage $223 million in client assets.

Cypress Trust Company appointed Palm Beach County attorney Erik Edward Joh as president and chief executive. Joh joins Cypress Trust after serving as founding and managing partner of the Boynton Beach office of New York law firm Hinman Howard & Kattell for the past 30 years.

HighTower lured an advisor team in upstate New York, The Morgia Group, from Morgan Stanley Smith Barney.

Tony Morgia is the team's founder and joins as managing director and partner. Michael Morgia and Philip Banazek also join from MSSB as managing directors and partners. Rounding out the team is Mark Banazek who comes on board as a financial advisor.

Lorraine Monick joined Harris myCFO as a managing director of Investment Advisory Services in the Menlo Park, California office. Monick most recently served as managing director in Seattle for Mt. Eden Investment Advisors, a San Francisco based independent advisory firm.

Boston Private Financial Holdings appointed James Garvey chief executive officer and president of its Northern California affiliate, Borel Private Bank & Trust Company. Garvey steps in from Charter Private Bank where he served as president and CEO. Garvey replaces James Dawson, who will serve as interim CEO until the transition is completed. He will also replace Dawson on the Borel Private Bank board.

Along with this appointment came the announcement of a new chief executive for BPFH's Southern California affiliate, West Coast Private Banking Group. V Charles Jackson, currently the CEO and president of First Private Bank & Trust, takes up his new role in January.

Terry Kane joined First Republic Private Wealth Management in Palo Alto, California as senior trust officer and senior vice president and Horacio Teran as senior portfolio manager and managing director.

Kane has more than 25 years of trust experience at financial services companies and law firms, a law degree from the University of Southern California, an M. Phil from Oxford University and a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Santa Clara. Teran has 10 years of wealth management experience at firms including Bank of America and Wells Fargo.

Robert Gould, head of wealth management at Brown Brothers Harriman, will retire this year. The decision to leave was made by Gould, a 30-year veteran of the low-profile bank.

Heidrick & Struggles International named Todd Taylor to its financial services practice, with a focus on clients in the wealth management sector.

Taylor steps in from start-up advisory firm Hedge Fund of Funds, where he served as co-founder and managing partner. Prior to that, he spent 22 years at Morgan Stanley in various roles, including leading the company's high net worth business.

Susan Mucciarone joined Glenmede as senior vice president and director of wealth services, and a member of the company’s management committee. Mucciarone left Wells Fargo where she was executive vice president and senior managing director of the bank’s East Coast Family Wealth business.

Northern Trust named Wilson Leech as its new chief executive for EMEA, succeeding Biff Bowman, who has held the role since 2008. Bowman has been appointed to replace Lee Selander who is retiring as head of the Americas for corporate and institutional services. The appointment will see Bowman relocate to Chicago from London.

Northern Trust also named Peter Cherecwich as head of global fund services. Cherecwich is chief operating officer of the company's corporate and institutional services unit, a role he will maintain in addition to his new Chicago-based position. He takes over from Leech.

BNY Mellon Wealth Management hired James Carley as vice president and sales director for its West Hartford, Connecticut, office. Carley joined from Oppenheimer Trust, based in Florham Park, New Jersey.

John Taft, chief executive of RBC Wealth Management, Royal Bank of Canada’s US wealth management arm was named chairman of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association for 2011. Taft will also continue in his role at RBC.

Bessemer Trust appointed W Scott Sanford as principal. Sanford joined the company from Foster Investment Consulting, where he was also a principal.

JP Morgan named Leslie Lassiter market manager of its Private Wealth Management office in Los Angeles. Lassiter returns to the West Coast after serving in a number of roles throughout her more than 20 years with the firm. Most recently, she was market manager for the New York metro team.

Citi Private Bank appointed Paul Baldovin senior vice president and wealth planner for its Palm Beach, Florida office. Baldovin steps in from Wells Fargo Private Bank, where he served as senior vice president and senior financial planner at its Fort Lauderdale branch.

The Riven Group, a UBS financial advisory team that focuses on retirement investment strategies, expanded its Westport, Connecticut office with the appointment of Kimberly Keeping as a financial advisor. Keeping was previously a financial planning analyst at Westport Resources Management.

Stone & Youngberg appointed Stephen Collins as senior vice president and New York branch manager, responsible for building out the firm’s high net worth private client business in the Northeast. Collins is a 25-year industry veteran and was previously responsible for institutional and retail sales and development at Laidlaw & Co.

RBC Wealth Management made senior level appointments to its business unit. Retiring as chief administrative officer and head of RBC Correspondent and Advisor Services is Mike Kavanagh, who has been with the firm for the past 25 years. He will be replaced by Catie Tobin, head of business development for RBC Wealth Management, as head of the correspondent and advisory unit.